For some times Google has included the name of points of interest (POIs) directly on its online map but thus far this was only a display. Today it has changed with clickable icons that link to the Place page for those locations worldwide. In addition to that, Google is launching a beta program of “sponsored map icons”...

Last week GPS Business News met with Frédéric Lopez, CEO at Alternative Shift, a newly born French start-up self-defined as a Geo-Social gaming studio. Frédéric Lopez presented us his company and gave us some hints about their first project, a location-aware MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online game) called Besyde....

Traffic information provider INRIX released this week their free iPhone/iPod Touch application in local languages in France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The app, which offers current and predictive traffic, covers more than 300,000 km of motorways, city streets and secondary roads in 100 cities. Additional...

Starting this week, AT&T customers and shoppers in parts of the U.S. Midwest can do in-store challenges on the SCVNGR iPhone/Android mobile apps and win rewards. Customers win point for challenges: check-in for 1 point, snap a picture of the new Samsung Captivate for 3, etc. customers can get a ringtone card for 2...

Clear Channel Airports (CCA), a leading marketer of airport advertising, has teamed with location-based app developer Geodelic, to deliver FLYsmart, a free iPhone application that provides information about services and amenities in airport terminals, as well as live feeds of flight arrival and departure. CCA currently...

U.S. Midwest retailer Meijer today announced an iPhone and Android application offering its customers to search the location of more than 100,000 items in their “retail supercenter”. The application, developed in partnership with indoor mapping app start-up Point Inside also provides updated information on weekly...

INTERVIEW: Big brands are benefiting from the power of location-based mobile marketing. But now local businesses are getting the message. Rob Lawson, CMO and co-founder of Brightkite, told GPS Business News how consumer data is being used to drive traffic to businesses. It doesn't take much to convince big brands about the...

Indian digital map provider MapmyIndia released their latest database that includes house addresses for the two metropolitan areas of Delhi NCR and Chandigarh. The company is pursuing this house addresses mapping initiative in other regions. “Releasing house address maps for a country as complex as India was a big...

Last week location-based advertising platform Placecast and location aggregator Location Labs have announced a partnership which extends the reach of Placecast’s ShopAlerts service to over 180 million potential consumers in the US (60% of mobile owners). ShopAlerts are location-triggered mobile text messages sent from...

Mobile navigation provider TeleNav today announced “Jungle!”, an iPhone and iPod Touch application targeted at college students and offering location-based classifieds. Jungle! Is a free application that lets students buy, sell and request products and services in their area, including textbooks, tutoring or even...

Yesterday night in California Facebook presented its long awaited location-based service called Places. The tool allows you to “check-in” at public places in order to tell your friend where you are and see where they are as well as discover places where they have been. Check-ins will be broadcast in status updates that...

Last month MapQuest announced a $1 million fund to improve the data of Openstreetmap (OSM), the biggest global open source mapping initiative. On MapQuest heels, earlier this month, Bing Maps Technical Evangelist Chris Pendelton announced in a blog post the availability of OSM data (with the Mapnik rendering) as a layer in Bing...